Well the 1st Downhill race of the 09/10 season when down well, a relatively small turn out of only 32 riders in 3 classes but this was probably due to the HKCA moving the date of the race forward by a week at the last moment....

For those that have never been to the DH course, I'll give you a little insight. The course is on the opposite side of the hill to the X country course, its great for spectators as there is many vantage points and you can see most of the course from the bottom of the hill. Its still a relatively new course , but it is evolving into a good DH course. It starts with a flowing top section which leads into my unfavorable part, the flat even uphill middle section which gets you from one ridge to another. From there it runs into a good DH course with some good technical rock sections and few man made jumps and step-ups down to the final flowing bottom run and jump, just over 2 minutes in all.

Now to the day in question, the course has had some work done to it by the boys (Jor Tsui and co) and alot of clearing had to be done as the course was a bit overgrown, but in all the course shaped up well. Unfortunately there had been a few injuries that week in practice so there was maybe a few more spectators than riders (sorry Danger and Mike) !!!

After the first practice a bit negotiating was need to allow the Juniors/ Novice to get a route around one of the larger man made jumps and a chicken run for the last jump, but the organizers finally agreed to this course change for them.

The weather was great still a bit hot ,but with a nice breeze on the top of the hill, not to bad at all.

The finals where great and the results will be posted as soon as the HKCA puts them on there website. It was a great day and an awesome atmosphere everyone was enjoying themselves and having a great time cheering on the other competitors or have a good laugh when mistakes lead to a few spills of the bikes. It all finished with a fun prized giving with, sparkling fruit juice sprayed all round.

It would be great to see more people out for these events, they are not well published by the HKCA , and at the end of the day they are just a great event to meet other avid mountain bikers and pit yourself against the clock, to see how fast you can fly down a hill.There is no need for a full DH rig , any all mountain will do the job just fine. The next race is scheduled of Ho Poi on the 17th January 2010 , please come join hopefully we will be able to get 50+ entrants. There is lots of classes to enter, from Novice to Juniors, Elite B, Master and the Open class, so there is something for everyone. Its more about having fun together and showing a support for a ever growing sport.
Remember the more people we get at the races , means the more we can lobby for new trails and a better environment for ALL mountain bikers